Lynn Lin grew impatient as she saw so many people crowding over. She shouted, "What exactly do you want?"
"Nothing special. You saw it yourself—just now you mouthed off. Now, just hand over some valuables and get lost," said the hunter who'd spoken earlier.
"You dare tell me to get lost? I'll make you get lost first!" Lynn Lin snapped, grabbing the guy and tossing him aside. Everyone around froze, until the thrown man yelled furiously, "Damn it, everyone, attack!"
As soon as he said this, the group whipped out their magical treasures, ready to attack—but Lynn Lin's barrier was unbreakable. They were helpless. Usually, they only fought spirit beasts and mutated monsters, never anything truly powerful, so their strength was nothing to write home about.
All sorts of attacks slammed into Lynn Lin's barrier. Watching the scene, Lynn felt a sense of accomplishment and laughed, "Dealing with them is so easy."
"Watch this, Sis Lynn!" Ember Yang called, then spat a mouthful of fire. The hunters nearby instantly caught fire; the weaker ones died on the spot, and the stronger ones were left horribly burned.
Evan Yang and Melody Wood just sighed—after all, the hunters had brought this trouble on themselves. Evan spoke up, "You'd better open a path for us."
"Alright, alright, just spare us!" The man who'd been thrown out quickly begged, his attitude totally changed.
"Then open the way," Lynn Lin said smugly.
The man quickly led the remaining hunters to a hidden entrance. Each took out a Pass Token, and soon a passage opened up, letting Evan Yang and his group walk through.
Evan Yang, Lynn Lin, Melody Wood, and Ember Yang stepped into the passage and vanished from the hunters' sight.
"Damn it! Let's see how you get out after going in—how dare you attack us!" The man changed his tone and cursed, and the others joined in, grumbling angrily.
"Alright, check everyone's injuries and report to the boss so he can decide what to do," the man ordered.
The others nodded and began carrying away the dead, helping the wounded back for treatment.
Not far away, a mountain rose above the forest, with a tent much larger than the rest. Inside, a fat man was sleeping when urgent voices outside woke him. Annoyed, he grumbled, "Who told you to disturb my sleep?"
"Boss, we've got trouble," someone reported.
"Trouble? What kind of trouble? Is it a spirit beast army, or did they break through the defenses?" the fat man asked.
"No, it's just a few troublesome people," the man replied.
"Troublesome people? What's going on?" the fat man asked suspiciously.
"Here's what happened." The man started explaining, and after hearing the story, the fat man snorted, "Outrageous! Someone dares to cause trouble in my territory—where are they now?"
"We sent them inside—maybe they've already been eaten by monsters." The man laughed.
"Why did they go there?" the fat man asked suspiciously.
"No idea," the man shook his head.
"Got it. I'll send scouts to see what they're up to. If they're unharmed, I'll make sure they leave," the fat man snorted coldly.
Evan Yang and his companions were now in a sealed forest, where mutated spirit beasts could appear at any time, so Evan reminded everyone to stay alert.
In this forest, there were no restrictions on divine sense. Evan Yang scanned the surroundings and saw a dark hollow at the deepest point, with spirit beasts watching from nearby. They seemed attracted by the aura but didn't dare approach, knowing they'd change if they got too close.
Watching the spirit beasts mutate and lose their nature, Evan Yang muttered, "This Nether Sky Abyss really is strange."
"You saw it?" Lynn Lin asked curiously.
"Yeah, I saw it. Too bad you can't use flash step or teleportation here," Evan Yang noticed you could only fly or walk, which really piqued his curiosity.
"It must be a protective formation created by the gods of this world, meant to stop powerful creatures from suddenly appearing outside, so people aren't caught off guard," Melody Wood explained.
"So you're saying there could be human surveillance around here?" Evan Yang guessed.
"Yeah, probably," Melody Wood replied.
Evan Yang pondered, "Got it. Let's keep going and stay alert."
Everyone nodded, and soon they ran into some spirit beasts that had lost their nature and become 'monsters.'
The 'monsters' sensed Evan Yang and his companions and rushed at them.
Soon, Evan Yang and the other three were surrounded by spirit beasts that had lost their nature, but they quickly dealt with them. For the next few hours, they faced scattered attacks from unknown 'monsters.'
"Wow, we haven't even reached the Nether Sky Abyss yet, and I'm already exhausted from fighting these weird creatures," Lynn Lin said.
"Hang in there, a few more hours and we'll arrive," Evan Yang said.
"Good. Otherwise, I'd rather stay in your treasure than be dragged around by these damned creatures," Lynn Lin said.
Evan Yang smiled helplessly, but just then he saw people approaching from ahead. He stopped smiling and said, "Some people are coming toward us—take a look."
Everyone looked where Evan Yang pointed, and sure enough, a few people were approaching.
They soon met face to face.
"Are you the ones who barged in?" someone asked.
"Oh? You're chasing us? That can't be right—how did you get ahead of us?" Lynn Lin asked, confused.
"We used teleportation, idiot," the leader mocked.
"Idiot? Who are you calling idiot? I'll cripple you right now!" Lynn Lin snorted, and started fighting. The others were strong, and Lynn Lin got angry and shouted to Ember Yang, "Hey, help me out!"
"I thought you could handle it, Sis Lynn. I'm coming," Ember Yang laughed, then spat out flames. Everywhere the fire touched, things ignited, and the others panicked.
Skip this line as it is irrelevant to the novel narrative.
"You—you dare use fire here? You're doomed!" someone shouted in panic.
"Of course we use fire—what, are you scared?" Lynn Lin laughed, seeing their fear of Ember Yang's fire.
"We're not afraid of fire—it's the Netherfire Beast! It loves fire! You're doomed. We're out of here," the group shouted, trying to leave, but Evan Yang blocked them with a barrier.
Evan Yang smiled with interest, "You should at least explain what the Netherfire Beast is. Don't rush off."
"Let us out, you jerk!" They realized they were trapped in a barrier and couldn't break it, so they shouted angrily.
"Tell us, and I'll let you go," Evan Yang said.
"Fine, I'll tell you. The Netherfire Beast is a corrupted spirit beast turned monster. It loves to sleep in the forest, but once awakened, it's terrifying. Fire wakes it up, so it's probably already out somewhere—you just don't know it yet," the man explained.
"Hmph, I don't see anything," Lynn Lin expanded her divine sense but found nothing, so she scoffed.
"You can't see it, no matter how strong you are," someone trembled.
"I don't buy it—are there really monsters like that in this forest?" Lynn Lin sneered.
"Believe it or not, that's your problem. Let us go!" the man shouted angrily. The others joined in. Evan Yang withdrew the barrier, and the group rushed to escape, but only a few steps away, a strange creature appeared, opened its mouth, and swallowed them whole before they could react.
Then the creature vanished in a flash. Lynn Lin was stunned—not just her, but Ember Yang and Melody Wood too. Evan Yang saw more clearly: the creature was covered in fur, its eyes hidden, with sharp claws and a huge mouth.
But such a strange creature had tremendous power—it swallowed so many people in the blink of an eye. Evan Yang feared this tragedy would happen to his group, so he quickly said, "Quick, enter my space."
Just as Evan Yang shouted, a strange creature appeared in front of Lynn Lin. She was about to scream, but Evan Yang pulled her into his space. The creature saw its prey vanish, and a man holding a spear appeared before it. "Netherfire Beast? Your speed is truly bizarre. I don't know if you understand me, but running into me is your bad luck."
The creature roared, and Evan Yang, holding the Infinity Spear, attacked it, but the beast disappeared in a flash—its speed was incredible.
This was Evan Yang's first time seeing such a terrifyingly fast creature.
"It really is fast," Evan Yang said, then stood in place, opening his divine sense in all directions, ready to respond at any moment.
Sure enough, from Evan Yang's left, a creature suddenly charged at him. Evan, holding his spear, met it head-on, hitting the beast's forepaw—not piercing it, but making it tremble.
The attack enraged the Netherfire Beast, which roared and continued attacking Evan Yang from multiple directions. Each attack was incredibly fast, and Evan barely had time to react.
"This won't work," Evan Yang muttered. If he wanted to defeat the beast, he'd have to try something else. He set up a barrier around himself, filled with various elemental attributes. When the creature appeared, multiple elements struck it at once.
The creature roared a few times and then disappeared. Evan Yang thought it might return, but it was gone, leaving behind bloodstains on the ground.